Tag Archives: 30daygetchucked

First, I found an additional 190 things (with help from the pile of old school papers) to toss, bringing me to 465 for Sept/Oct combined!

In sports (winding down):

Gymnastics for the youngest.

Swimming for the middle four.

Four soccer practices but only one game. The rest were rained out.

I registered the fourth for baseball in the spring.

And, in life:

I had one parent/teacher conference. Three more this week.

We completed health insurance signups for next year.

We got flu shots.

The twins went to math morning.

We carved pumpkins.

As this basically closes out October, here are my goals for November:

Clean the garage. This largely needs to be done while everyone is at school which will be a bit challenging with Thanksgiving and parent/teacher conferences taking away some preschool days this month. But, there’s a limit to the cold temperatures I’m willing to work in so it needs to get done soon.

Get a haircut. This is the second to last item on my backlogged list from the summer. It’s been since April. Also much easier to do when preschool is in session.

Throw out another 465 items. I’m going for the # of the day method this month. And, I expect to be relying on the school papers pile for the 20+ numbered days, but there’s plenty more cleaning out that needs to happen so a 30-day month provides some nice motivation.

I think three goals is a good target for the month. Obviously other things will happen, but three is a reasonable number to focus on.

October has been all about polishing off those things that I fell behind on over the summer, got bumped by the hectic school start schedule, or otherwise just needed to wait for a calmer period (preferably with fewer/no kids at home).

Over the summer I had hoped to tag 465 things for the twins tag sale at the end of September. By the time the sale happened, I had tagged 337. So, I didn’t hit that goal, but realistically there was no additional space in the minivan. Apparently I need to keep that in mind next time!

I sold about half of what I tagged. The rest got sold, donated, or packed away for another sale. So, let’s see if in September and October combined I can get to (roughly) 465 things out of the house!

So, for simple math lets say I sold 160 things (roughly half) at the tag sale. That would leave me with 305 left to go. I donated two piles to local children’s charities totaling 37 items.

I donated 14 and 35 items to two other charities. Then I totaled up my fabric recycling (stains, tears, broken zippers, etc.).

I gave someone the infant tub and infant car seat. I sold 10 items. I returned one item. So, that brings me to 190 items that need to leave by the end of October. I’ll update this project next week.

In sports, we had:

gymnastics class for the youngest.

the final three fall baseball practices and game for the oldest.

a total of four soccer practices and four soccer games.

and orientation for the spring baseball program.

I went to my final Back to School night for this year, this time at preschool. There was also a principal’s talk at the Middle School. Both were sandwiched inside of soccer practices. Soccer is 7:00-8:30. Back to Nursery night was 7:30-8:00 and the principal’s talk was 7:00-8:00. It made for two busy, but oddly efficient evenings.

And to finish out a busy week:

I took the youngest to a play date.

The twins went to math morning.

I sold the last two items that seemed hot. I have a few more listings, but they don’t seem to be moving so I’ll take them down and maybe post another time.

I picked up a check for two things that sold via a consignment store. The check arrived from the consignment sale.

I attended the local rummage sale. This and the twins sale are the two I try to go to regularly. I spent just under $40 at each this year, which really isn’t too bad.

The twins sale is limited to seasonal kids items. I spent just over half my money on the youngest and got a few items for the boys. I went in with a fairly precise list of what we needed. This year I largely steered clear of books and toys as we really didn’t need anything there.

The rummage sale is much more comprehensive. They have clothing for everyone, toys, books, household goods, and who knows what else (just not outdoor/garage).

I spent $28.50 – plus a $1 admission fee – the first day. The green shorts, solid pink shirt, and Patriots sweatshirt are the only items that will fit the kids right now. The three dresses will be for next summer. Everything else is probably farther out. I felt like the biggest scores were the sweatshirt ($2), the khakis (Gap NWT size 12 for $3), and the brand new canning jars ($4).

The second day is half price and no admission. In the past I’ve only gone on the day my kids were in preschool. But the middle three boys really needed pants so I bit the bullet and went the first day with a child in tow in the hopes of finding some pants. I struck out. But, I found a few things and I saw some things that I figured were worth it at the lower Tuesday price. Plus the youngest was in preschool so I could look a little more thoroughly. As you can see I went a little more summer, things that hadn’t really been on my list the first day. Best deals today were probably the wrapping paper (large roll for $0.50), the raincoat (Land’s End for $1), and the Nike pants ($1.50). At $0.50 each the shorts were good buys too.

So in the end I did bring some items into our house also. But, they’re hopefully all things that will be worn in the future. Looking forward things seem to be calming down. I have a few more to do items that have been held over from summer, but the press of fall activities seems to have abated.

Clearly I missed some posts last week. On the other hand, I feel like I got a lot accomplished, not necessarily all of which will be reflected here.

In kids sports:

The middle four had swimming lessons each week.

By a mix of schedule and weather, our oldest only had four baseball practices.

We totaled four soccer practices and seven soccer games.

Our youngest went to two gymnastics classes.

Soccer has now moved to it’s “Under the Lights” late fall stage so all soccer practices for us are 7:00-8:30 pm. This provides a whole new level of dinner complexity, but will only last a few weeks.

Other happenings:

Collectively we had two doctor’s appointments.

I attended another Back to School Night. There’s one more next week.

I went to a friend’s for dinner which was a nice variation from normal.

We had a few play dates among the younger five kids.

The kids had a day off from school.

As a result of the day off there was only one math morning.

The youngest had visiting day and her first day of school.

We had visitors over the weekend.

One child attended a birthday party.

The big bout of productivity came in the continued cleaning out. I finished putting away all of the sale items. As part of that process I separated out items to donate to various charities. Those items still need to be sorted and actually donated. I also listed a number of items on online yard sales with much success.

Sold:

Two pairs of women’s pants

One Halloween costume

Two pairs of hockey gloves

One pair of hockey elbow pads

One pair of hockey socks

Two travel booster seats

I also returned a shirt and gave away an infant tub and infant car seat. And yet, the clean out continues.

Sadly, there’s enough that I’m going for 465 more things this month and already have it in my head for the fall. I know, not everyone would count every school worksheet, but some folks count pairs of shoes as 2 so I feel like there’s an element of what works for you involved.

Day 25:

Return: The black bag has nine items that will be returned.

Donate: The three shirts in the bottom row are too short. The shirt in the middle left never really fit right. There are two items under it plus one pack of hair clips.

Fabric Recycling: The blue shirt on the right has stains that won’t come out and doesn’t fit right anymore. All the items in the top row have holes.

Trash: We don’t need the package of replacement toothbrush heads. We have another set and, frankly, don’t replace the heads nearly often enough to need all of these.

Day 26:

Recycling: This whole stack is going in the recycling.

Day 27:

Recycling: I know it doesn’t look like much, but there are twenty-seven items here and most are papers being recycled.

Trash: The two binders have seen better days and will hit the trash.

Day 28:

Recycle: I’m continuing to power through the school papers. Everything here will be recycled. Enjoy the artwork!

Day 29:

Recycle: Everything here will end up in the recycling.

Day 30:

Recycle: Enjoy the artwork! Everything here will be recycled.

By the end of this post I will have finished the 2015-2016 school year papers, and started 2016-2017. Given that, I decided to power on to get through that next school year. I’ll save the current school year for the fall. Plus, in both cases you’ll see that I have plenty of other things/rooms I didn’t get to in this first attempt. And, I think taken in full there was a nice range of items parted with.

This was vacation week so I mostly tackled the school paper pile from the 2016-2017 school year. Fortunately or unfortunately, I get so much paper home from preschool and elementary school that most of it goes in a box that I hopefully process when I have time the following September. Obviously I’ve taken a few Septembers off because I was behind.

Day 19:

Recycle: There’s actually not that much paper here – the two yellow notebooks at the bottom and the pinwheels (minus the push pins) are it.

Trash: Because so much of this is laminated, many papers fell here. I also wasn’t sure about recycling the yarn with the fabric so I tossed it. The bag got recycled, but inside was another bag of moldy preschool play dough. I better have found all of that now! The folders and binders had all seen better days having spent an entire school year traveling back and forth.

Day 20:

We finally had a warm day and the kids were outside, so I was able to sneak back to the broken toy stash.

Trash: There’s a shell, some ribbon, the Happy Meal frames, a sticky hand that is no longer sticky, some broken sports eggs, a broken RC car, two broken Tivo remotes, and a dagger toy that got stepped on and crushed so it no longer retracts (which is the actually fun aspect).

Day 21:

The boys did some more cleaning out and I continued going through the old school stuff.

Recycle: The boys came up with a bag of scrap paper, a torn gift bag, and two LEGO boxes to get rid of. Then there’s a whole pile of school papers.

Trash: Some laminated papers (including the Fraction Kit), an old balloon, two hamburger erasers, and some ribbon.

Day 22:

Recycle: Again, lots of school papers.

Trash: There are a few more interesting items here: two “reuseable” (but they’re super flimsy) bags signed with a bunch of kids names, one yarn head sculpture, many laminated papers, another Fraction Kit, and four Elementary School Field Day “medals.”

Day 23:

Sold: I had another burst of success, selling the bassinet, associated bedding, and baby carrier.

Recycle: All the papers here went in the recycling.

Trash: Two folders that have seen better days, a foam star from 5th grade graduation, a piece of yarn “cloth,” and a box of random pencils/crayons. None of the pencils are in great shape and I don’t keep non-washable crayons in the house.

Day 24:

There were some nice examples here covering a year of preschool art.

Recycle: Most of the papers around the perimeter will be be recycled.

Trash: A lot of these have random stuff glued to them that cannot be recycled. The penguin is mislabeled 2014; these are all actually from the same school year.

I’m still going strong in week 2, to the point where I’ve already thought about doing this again in June (the next 30 day month). Obviously it would be nice to part with things quickly, as they become available, but that’s not always possible. I have clothing that will be kept until the end of the season and then let go, school papers that will be kept until the end of the year, things that have to disappear quickly to escape the interest of the children, etc.

Day 7:

Donate: The five pairs of pants and one sports bra that are in excellent condition, just not right for me.

Fabric recycling: One sock had a hole.

Trash: I have nicer toy cars than this one from a party favor bag.

Day 8:

Gift: One child was invited to a twin birthday party so I used two toys that were in my “rainy day” stash instead of buying something. They are entirely new in box and age appropriate. I’ve had them for a long time and the time never seemed right to break them out so this was a better use.

Donate: The tank top no longer fits.

Fabric recycling: The jeans have a continuously failing closure and its been repaired at least three times so the material in that area is getting questionable. The pillowcase has worn through.

Sold: I sold one bicycle that we no longer need as we have four in this size and only one child at a time should ever fit.

Returned: I returned the small item in the bag to Lowes.

Fabric recycling: I had a big pile going before starting this challenge. So, I bundled all that up and called it one item.

Recycling: I found five magazines from 2017.

Day 10:

Donate: The camo pajama pants never quite fit correctly.

Fabric recycling: All three pairs of pajama pants have large holes in the knees. The three pillow covers are frayed at the corners. And, yes, I do have new covers for those pillows, but I bought them months ago and just never let go of the old covers.

Trash: The two pairs of batting gloves have been replaced (first by the other and then by the current pair). I inputted the balance of the gift card into Amazon so I no longer need the physical card.

Day 11:

I finally had a day when the kids were not home so I could get into my collection of things I had stashed from them.

Recycle: The bag and coupon are from this past Christmas. The party hat is from I don’t know when.

Trash: I found five party favors that may or may not have come from the same party, one marble (we don’t need any), and two Chick-fil-A kids meal toys.

Day 12:

I had another day without the kids so I went back to the same stash. Party favors generally aren’t large, but they definitely fit the definition of clutter!

Recycle: I found one party favor bag, an ad that was inside a toy that had been a Christmas present, and some fake party favor money.

Trash: The “balloon” had is from a doctor trying to entertain the littlest one during my appointment and I pulled out eight party favors.

I decided to take Spring Cleaning more literally this year and actually clean out, vs clean up. A friend had read Marie Kondo’s book and was aiming to put her ideas into practice. I don’t know that much about her method, but from what little I do know I didn’t think it would work for me, right now, with many small kids. Too much gathering and looking at large collections of items over many months; not enough quick decisions and hiding formerly treasured items!

So, I’m going for cleaning out the number of items of the date, for each day in April. Since April has 30 days, I decided to break this up into 5 posts, each with 6 days. The goal here is to move 465 (the sum of the days in April) out of our house before the end of the month by any means: trash, recycling, donating, selling, gifting, etc.

So far, I’m off to a good start. Admittedly, the beginning is the easy part – low numbers and probably low hanging fruit to grab and move along. You’ll see a bunch of fabric recycling. There are bins and each of the schools which get money from the organization for each pound that goes in.

Since I decided to start this when I wrote my goals for the month on Tuesday, April 3, I actually started with 6 (1+2+3) items.

Days 1-3:

Trash: The little “laser” guns no longer work. The artillery piece is broken. I finally (two years later) broke the new insurance card out of its plastic card and put it with the other insurance cards; the rest of the plastic card is trash.

Recycle: The birthday card is months old.

Donate: The shirt is in excellent condition. It just never fit me properly.

Day 4:

Trash: The power cord is very frayed, though technically still working.

Fabric Recycling: The sheet (upper left) has a giant hole in the middle. The buckle on the overalls came apart. If you look closely you can see a small metal piece. I think that could be glued back in, but these are baby overalls and I would not want a baby to chew on the buckle and have this piece come off again. The yellow shirt has a hole in it.

Day 5:

Trash: Two pieces of a stand for a toy we no longer have. A broken watch. A cord for a toy that no longer works.

Recycle: The box the Christmas cards came in was only holding stamps and address labels. Those can go elsewhere so the box gets recycled.

Sold: I sold the Pack ‘N’ Play Sport. It’s great for summer so this was the right time of year to find a buyer.

Day 6:

Trash/Recycle: I found six abandoned Valentine’s / Birthday party gift bags. I sorted the contents into trash (white bag in the picture below) vs recycling and admit to keeping a few things. We’ll use the pencils and stickers. The stuffed animals are NWT so I’m not sure where they’ll go yet (so they’re not being counted here) as we don’t need them.

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About Me

Welcome! I’m Nora. We have 5 boys and 1 girl. I write about the practical stuff that we call life – managing school, sports, and all things suburban. I get everyone where they need to be, with their stuff, when they need to be there and write about how that all gets done.